The Struggle (Titan 3)

The sound of his voice, my name spoken so hoarsely, was an explosion to my senses. This was real—all of this was real. My gaze darted between him and the woman. She smiled as she clasped her hands together. I sucked in a sharp breath.

I was suddenly on the move, unsure of what I was doing or where I was going. All I knew was I needed to be far away from right there. I needed a place to think, to straighten out the twisty thoughts and swamping emotions.

“Really?” I heard Alex say, disbelief dripping off her tone. “After everything we just talked about? Seriously?”

“Not right now,” Seth snapped back, and I had no idea what they were talking about. “Josie,” he called again. “Wait.”

Turning, I stumbled back inside, each step as painful as the last. My breath was coming in pants. Tiny bursts of light dotted my vision. I squeezed my eyes shut as a wave of dizziness assaulted me.

“Josie.” His voice was closer, and I stopped moving because I was seriously winded and needed a break. Walking was hard, but hearing his voice right then, that slight accent I could never place, was even harder. “Alex,” I heard him say. “Can you give us some space?”

“I don’t know if I want to give you space right now,” she spat.

Gods, she’d seen him with that—that woman. Despite everything going through my head and everything that had happened to me, I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I had no idea what was happening.

“Alex.” His voice dropped low with a warning. “Go find something to do.”

“Are you okay with me leaving, Josie?” she asked, and I wanted to disappear into the bushy potted plants. “Because if not, I’ll make Douche Canoe over here disappear.”

Seth let out an aggravated breath, and I opened my eyes. I could only look at Alex. Her face was flushed with anger, and I had a suspicion she would gladly throw down with him.

“I’m . . . I’m okay,” I managed to say. “It’s okay.”

She hesitated, shooting one last glare in Seth’s direction. “You’re a dumbass—such a fucking dumbass.” Turning to me, she gave a faint smile. “I’ll check in on you later.”

“Okay,” I whispered, almost wishing I hadn’t sent her away, because she was stalking off down the hall, and now Seth and I were alone. It was strange, because before Hyperion came, before I saw him outside, I’d wanted nothing more than to be alone with Seth.

“I can explain,” Seth said after a moment.

An unbelieving hoarse laugh shook me. That was possibly the most incredibly cliché thing I’d ever heard.

“I know how that looked, but whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong,” he continued, and I heard him step closer. My gaze flew to his chest. “And I will explain everything to you, but right now is not the time.”

I leaned against the wall, beside a statue of some dude missing half his arm. My head was spinning. I wasn’t sure how Seth could explain away whatever had happened out there. She, whoever she was, was stunning and beautiful, and I was vomit-inducing disgusting at the moment. Covered in dirt and filth and dried blood, and who knew what else.

“I want to take you back to bed.” He moved closer, reaching for me.

“No.” I held a weak, shaky arm up.

Seth stopped, and slowly, I finally lifted my gaze to his. The glyphs were gone. A muscle tapped along his jaw, but otherwise, his expression was void of any and all emotion. My heart squeezed. I’d seen that look before on him. Too many times before. “Josie, please let me help you.”

He wanted to help me and there was nothing wrong with that. Right? My gaze dropped to my hand. A frown pulled at my lips. My fingers were covered with dirt, stained with blood. My arm was the same. Only patches of skin were clean, and that was really stretching the definition of clean. And those bracelets. Those damn bracelets were still secured firmly around my wrists.

“I . . . I need to shower.” The moment I said those words, I knew how ridiculous they sounded, because even fresh and clean, I didn’t look like that and a shower wasn’t going to fix a damn thing that had gone wrong right now, but I still wanted to wash the dirt and the blood off.

His brows snapped together. “Let me take you back to bed. Have you eaten?”

Running a hand along the clammy skin of my arm, I shook my head when my fingers reached one of the bracelets. “I don’t . . . remember the last time.”

The empty stare disappeared. Something akin to grief twisted his striking features. “Then please, please let me get something for you to eat first.”

Swallowing against the lump in my throat, I thought food would go a long way in easing the hollowed feeling in my stomach, but I needed a shower. “I just need to . . . to get clean first.”

His eyes widened as his body jolted once more, and he opened his mouth to speak but seemed at a loss of what to say. Then his chest rose sharply. “Okay. I’ll help you.”

I pushed away from the wall. “I can do it. I just need to . . . know where a bathroom is.”

“Josie, stop. You can barely stand up.” He reached out again, and this time he didn’t stop. He carefully wrapped his hands around my upper arms. I winced and wasn’t sure if it was because his touch hurt or because he was touching me. “Please let me help you.”

We stood nearly toe-to-toe in silence. I was staring at his throat this time, and it was . . . was like we were suddenly two strangers. Two people who had split in life and gone in two very different directions, unexpectedly brought back together.

“I’m going to help you,” Seth said after a moment. “There is no way that’s not going to happen.”

Too weak to really fight him on this, I nodded, and Seth moved so fast, I had no idea how I ended up in his arms, cradled to his chest, my cheek resting on his shoulder, and my heart went through the juice grinder again. There were so many times while I was held by Hyperion that I’d feared I’d never be in Seth’s arms again, and now I was.

And he’d been holding someone else minutes ago.

Tears pricked the lids of my eyes. There was so much to worry about and so many things to cry and stress over, and now . . . now this.

He was striding down the hall and we were back in the bedroom within a blink of an eye.

Seth walked to a set of double doors across from the bed and nudged them open with his booted foot. He was quiet as he set me down on the rim of a tub that was the size of a small swimming pool. “Shower or bath?” he asked quietly.

Looking around the opulent bathroom, I felt sorely out of place among the white marble and lush, hanging bath towels. “This . . . this is your home now?”

“It’s where I grew up.” Seth knelt in front of me, drawing my attention. There was no missing the fact he didn’t refer to it as his home. “This used to be one of the guest bedrooms and baths.”

Holy crap, what did the master bedroom look like then?

“Do you want me to draw a bath or a shower?” he repeated gently.

Soaking in a bath sounded wonderful, but the water would be so gross after a second of me being in there. “Shower.”

Seth held my gaze for a moment and then rose swiftly. Turning, he walked over to an enclosed, step-down shower. There was no curtain, but with the high wall around it, there was no need. Well, for most people. I would most likely flood the bathroom.

As he turned on the water and the overhead rainfall shower came to life, it really began to sink in that I was free. That I wasn’t going to wake up and find Hyperion looming over me. I wasn’t going to be forced into another room. I didn’t have to fight back every waking second. A shudder worked its way through me, and a small moan escaped.

“You okay?” Seth was immediately kneeling in front of me again, his hands on my knees. “Josie?”

“Yeah,” I whispered, clearing my throat. “I’m just . . .” I was a lot of things. Scared. Sore. Confused. Relieved. Hurting. Exhausted. My heart felt like it had broken a thousand times in a span of a few days.

“That’s not true. It was a stupid question for me to ask.” Seth placed the tips of his fingers on my cheek. “I wish I could take the pain away. I would do anything to do that for you.”